# Why do teenage males laugh so much? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 25, 2003, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-teenage-males-laugh-so-much/215094 "2003-11-25T02:28:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![boofy\_bloke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@boofy\_bloke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boofy_bloke)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-teenage-males-laugh-so-much/215094/1 "2003-11-25T02:28:46Z")
It seems to me that getting 2 or more teenage males together results in a laugh-fest. Sometimes it’s redirected aggression as a means of establishing the group hierarchy but other times it’s just a word or a phrase or a look that sets them off. Is it hormones? Is it the flexibily-wired adolescent brain? Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-teenage-males-laugh-so-much/215094/2 "2003-11-25T02:58:43Z")
The oppressive weight of the life of toil awaiting them hasn’t sunk in yet. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-teenage-males-laugh-so-much/215094/3 "2003-11-25T03:08:38Z")
😕 I see the exact opposite. Girls are the giggly ones. Then again, maybe they’re high. ---
**Author:** ![Freiheit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e8c25b/32.png) [@Freiheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freiheit)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-teenage-males-laugh-so-much/215094/4 "2003-11-25T03:27:28Z")
Teenage male here. I spend a lot of time with certain friends. Because we’re together so much, we develop a closeness. Much of this is related to humor, since we share a similar sense of humor. We have a great arsenal of in-jokes, which we are constantly using. We’re always telling each other jokes. Even if it appears that we’re speaking normally, a certain phrase with a history can ignite laughter. I also echo what SmackFu said (semi-jokingly, I assume.) * * * ‘fry-height’ ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-teenage-males-laugh-so-much/215094/5 "2003-11-25T03:40:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SmackFu \* > \*\*The oppressive weight of the life of toil awaiting them hasn’t sunk in yet. \*\* Yes. They are still under the illusion that life is good, and full of promise. The crushing of hopes and dreams has not yet begun for most of them. ---
**Author:** ![xvxdarkknightxvx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/34f0e0/32.png) [@xvxdarkknightxvx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xvxdarkknightxvx)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-teenage-males-laugh-so-much/215094/6 "2003-11-25T04:47:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Revtim \* > \*\*Yes. They are still under the illusion that life is good, and full of promise. The crushing of hopes and dreams has not yet begun for most of them. \*\* Well, doesn’t that just suck? ☹ But I agree with some points in this thread. Lots of inside jokes. Jokes help make most things seem better. Just another way to escape reality when there’s nothing to drink. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-teenage-males-laugh-so-much/215094/7 "2003-11-25T05:01:52Z")
Yeah, as a teenage male we just joke. ---
**Author:** ![Gmork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f19dbf/32.png) [@Gmork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gmork)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-teenage-males-laugh-so-much/215094/8 "2003-11-25T06:04:14Z")
I think you’ll find it’s teenagers in general - not just males. ---
**Author:** ![Quack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e99b99/32.png) [@Quack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quack)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-teenage-males-laugh-so-much/215094/9 "2003-11-25T06:24:43Z")
Agreed. We teenage males are a crafty bunch, always cracking clever jokes and spouting witicisms the likes of which have never been seen. And we never use sarcasm. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![boofy\_bloke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@boofy\_bloke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boofy_bloke)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-teenage-males-laugh-so-much/215094/10 "2003-11-25T09:20:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gmork \* > \*\*I think you’ll find it’s teenagers in general - not just males. \*\* I don’t have any bunches of teenage girls on whom to test this observation. Maybe it’s just that guys laugh louder than sugar and spice girls? ---
**Author:** ![toque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9e8a1a/32.png) [@toque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toque)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-teenage-males-laugh-so-much/215094/11 "2003-11-25T12:46:42Z")
Also, they’re high. ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-teenage-males-laugh-so-much/215094/12 "2003-11-25T12:48:14Z")
I’m the mother of two teenagers – a 16 year old girl and a 17 year old boy – and, in my experience, girls laugh more. They giggle, to be specific. My son and his friends seem to feel they are too “cool” to laugh – at least around me, for the most part. I do hear them laughing and goofing around when they’re alone – private jokes, probably. Dirty ones, more than likely. However, I would say the girls laugh a good deal more. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Zagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@El\_Zagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Zagna)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-teenage-males-laugh-so-much/215094/13 "2003-11-25T15:06:07Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by SmackFu_The oppressive weight of the life of toil awaiting them hasn’t sunk in yet. \*\* and > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Revtim \* > \*\*They are still under the illusion that life is good, and full of promise. The crushing of hopes and dreams has not yet begun for most of them. \*\* Man-oh-man! Your memory of the teenage years is vastly different from mine. I remember those times as being full of angst, self-doubt, and awkwardness. Anything to break the tension was welcomed. Much of what the OP is observing is essentially nervous laughter which can be a bit over the top. ---
**Author:** ![PetW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@PetW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PetW)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-teenage-males-laugh-so-much/215094/14 "2003-11-25T15:59:28Z")
I think it’s because the jokes are usually at other people’s expense… making fun of someone, or an otherwise “inappropriate joke”. This makes it funnier because you’re not supposed to laugh… which makes you laugh even more. You laugh at the joke and also how inappropriate the joke is. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-teenage-males-laugh-so-much/215094/15 "2003-11-25T16:26:28Z")
My son and his friend were ALWAYS LAUGHING or slamming each other into walls. One day they came downstairs and found a stranded midget in the kitchen and nearly came apart at the seams. I could have died of embarrassment. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-teenage-males-laugh-so-much/215094/16 "2003-11-25T16:58:20Z")
> [@](#): > > found a stranded midget in the kitchen What? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-teenage-males-laugh-so-much/215094/17 "2003-11-25T17:24:05Z")
This midget’s car broke down in front of my house on a fairly rural road. It was very cold and snowy and I told her to come in to call for help. My kid and his friend were upstairs and came down for pop and found the midget standing on the chair dialing the phone. They just thought it was the most hilarious thing they’d ever seen and just about spewed from laughter. I saw her again at the local tavern. She was a really mean drunk. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-teenage-males-laugh-so-much/215094/18 "2003-11-25T18:11:01Z")
Some possibilities: 1. **Bonding** by laughing together or at the same things 2. **Competition** : trying to be the funniest or wittiest or to make the others laugh the hardest, or the feeling of superiority that comes when you see the humor in something where not everybody gets the joke 3. Socially acceptable **release** of aggression, nervousness, or awkwardness 4. It’s just fun; it **feels good** to laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-teenage-males-laugh-so-much/215094/19 "2003-11-25T18:19:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kalhoun \* > \*\*My son and his friend were ALWAYS LAUGHING or slamming each other into walls. One day they came downstairs and found a stranded midget in the kitchen and nearly came apart at the seams. I could have died of embarrassment. \*\* Maybe I’m not as grown up as I think I am, cause the phrase “stranded midget” nearly killed me. BAHAHA. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-teenage-males-laugh-so-much/215094/20 "2003-11-25T19:00:59Z")
Actually, it WAS hilarious. And I AM immature. If you could have seen her crawl up on the chair, and the boys just losin’ it… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-teenage-males-laugh-so-much/215094.md?page=2)